Дэвид Балдаччи - The Guilty

“How much?”

“A hundred,” she said promptly, as though she had planned this all out.

“That’s a lot of money. How do I know what you have to tell me is worth it?”

“That’s the catch. You don’t. And I want the money up front. Then I tell you. Then I leave. Those are my terms. Take ’em or not.”

She swished her long hair out of her face and stared up at him with a coldness that was unsettling.

Robie gazed around. “It might look funny to folks if I gave you a hundred bucks out in the open.”

“Do you really wanna do this in private ? You and a young teenage girl exchanging money?”

Well, thought Robie, she had a point there.

“How about at the café over there. You thirsty? I can slip you the money while we’re sitting.”

“Let’s go,” she said. “I have to be back home in an hour.”

They got their drinks, Robie a Coke and Emma a cup of coffee.

Robie said, “Coffee stunts your growth.”

“That’s bullshit,” she said taking a sip. “And what did you expect me to get, a glass of good, wholesome milk ?”

They were sitting at a corner table in the rear of the place that was pretty much empty at this time of day.

Robie had taken out five twenties from his wallet and under cover of passing her a napkin slipped them to her.

She counted them unobtrusively and placed them in her pocket.

“I could just leave now and not tell you anythin’. And if you tried to stop me I’d say you were tryin’ to pay me to give you a blowjob or somethin’.”

“I guess you could,” said Robie evenly. “And I could tell your father all about it. He already told me Janet and Sara were sluts. Why not just make it all three? You’re thirteen, right? I’m sure he’d be great to live with for the next five years.”

Emma stared at him with emotionless eyes, took a sip of coffee, then leaned forward. “Janet told me she was goin’ to meet someone that night.”

“Who?”

“She didn’t say who, just someone. But she thought it could mean a lot of money. Enough, in fact, to go back to Mobile.”

“That was her plan?”

“That’s all of our plans, except for Dad. We loved Mobile. We hate this place. Janet would be alive if we hadn’t moved here.”

“I think your father realizes that.”

“He realizes shit.”

“I don’t think that’s fair.”

“Do you want to hear what I have to say or do you want to analyze how dysfunctional my family is? Because I’m not goin’ to do both.”

“Go on.”

“Janet knew somethin’. I don’t know what. But it was a big secret. She said it had to do with some important people in town.”

“And that was where the money, the payoff, would come?”

“That’s right.”

“Did Sara know about this, too?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Maybe it was Sara who told you, not Janet.”

“Why do you say that?”

“They were closer in age. I bet they spent more time together. You were just the kid sister to keep in the dark.”

“So what!” she snapped. “I can still hear things.”

“Yes, you can. What else?”

“Janet went out that night to make a big score. She was happy, really lookin’ forward to it. And then she ended up dead.”

Robie sipped his Coke and thought about what she had told him.

“What was Janet wearing that night?”

“What?”

“What was she wearing that night?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Just indulge me. Sexy stuff, like for a date?”

“No. Jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. And sandals.”

“Good memory.”

“I watched her get dressed. Those were her favorite casual clothes.”

So she wasn’t going to hook up with a guy. This was money for something else.

“Okay. Did she say where she was going for this meeting?”

“The same spot, she said. I guess Sara knew what that meant. I didn’t.”

“You know what they were doing with Sherman Clancy?”

“What, you expect me to be all upset and stressed out? Yeah, I’m pissed that Janet is dead although she just thought of me as her dorky kid sister. But they needed money, and if Clancy was willin’ to pay them, so what?”

“So you don’t see anything wrong with that?”

“Consensual sex? No, not really. We’re livin’ in the twenty-first century, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“Sex for money is illegal.”

“Lots of things are illegal, that doesn’t make them wrong.”

Robie rubbed his eyes. He had little experience with teenagers, but he still couldn’t believe he was having this conversation with a thirteen-year-old. Had the world really changed that much while he wasn’t looking?

She said, “I was also pissed that I couldn’t get any of that money. I bet Clancy would have paid me, too. Sara said he liked them young. And I wouldn’t have done anythin’ that would get me pregnant. I’m not stupid.”

Okay, enough was enough. Robie stood. “Right, thanks for talking to me.”

She took another slow sip of her coffee and rose, too.

“God, I never would’ve taken you to be such an uptight jerk.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

They walked out together. And right into Sara Chisum.

She looked at Robie and then at her sister.

“What are you two doin’?” she demanded.

“Just talkin’,” said Emma sweetly. “He had some questions and I had some answers. And now I can get those shoes I wanted,” she added gleefully.

Sara scowled at Robie. “I told you she knew nothin’. You stay away from her.” She grabbed her sister’s arm and jerked her away. “You stay away from us both!”

Emma looked back and called out, “Nice doin’ business with you.”

Robie looked over his shoulder and saw Victoria staring at him from across the street. She had Ty on her hip. She was in front of the jail. She was apparently going to see her husband.

Robie hustled across to her.

“What was all that about?” asked Victoria.

“What? The Chisums?”

“Yes, of course the Chisums.”

“Just paying my respects and conveying my condolences.”

She looked at him with great skepticism. “Right. That’s exactly what it looked like, all right. Come on, tell me the truth.”

“Emma had a little bit of information about the night Janet died. That she was going to meet someone and that she expected a nice payoff for it.”

“Really? And who might that be?”

“She didn’t know. Or didn’t want to tell me. She’s quite grown up for thirteen.”

“Hell, Robie, girls down here get married at fifteen with their parents’ consent. What’d you expect?”

“You going to see Dad?” Robie said quickly.

“Yes.”

“With Ty?”

“Yes. I told you I was. Why?”

“I was in to see him a while ago. I told him you were bringing Ty. He didn’t think it was a good idea.”

“Well, like it or not, we’re going in.”

She turned and walked to the jail.

Robie watched her go and then turned in time to see the sedan pull out.

There were four men inside it. One of them Robie recognized. It was the guy from Clancy’s house, the one he’d shot in the hand. His face was bandaged from where Robie had clubbed him with his gun.

And they had seen him with Victoria and Tyler.

Well, damn.

Robie called blue Man and told him of this latest development.

“Wurtzburger touched base. He said he’d gotten a call. I have to say I was surprised that the Agency was so open with information about me.”

“If you were indeed surprised, then you managed to miss the meaning of everything I said during our last call. Now it seems that you have been made by the people from the casino and they will undoubtedly seek payback.”